Primary science on CD-ROM: the New Zealand experiment

An electronic issue of the New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, published in 1990 in parallel with the printed version, underwent user evaluation in 1991. Self‐selected respondents expressed doubt about universal access to the information, a preference for hard copy over screens, difficulty with the software, and disappointment with the graphics. They found electronic publication desirable to supplement not replace ink‐on‐paper journals. The first New Zealand‐authored CD‐ROM was subsequently published, comprising full‐text journal articles, abstracts, a bibliographic work, and a monograph. It illustrates a fielded database structure of full‐text electronic publications, and includes bibliographic references and raw research data. Traditional‐style scientific articles can be downloaded from it to laser printers, bypassing the journal printing process. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.